While studying abroad in Ukraine, I grew accustomed to watching a TV show called Vidbir on Sunday evenings. The name, Vidbir, refers to “selection” in Ukrainian, which is appropriate as the show itself selects who will represent Ukraine at Eurovision, an annual Europe-wide pop-music contest. This year, the 2020 season of Vidbir featured many good […]

Таras Коmpanichenkо (Тарас Компаніченко) is an influential Ukrainian singer-songwriter, recording artist, kobzar, banduryst (a player of the Ukrainian bandura), lutenist, lira player, and composer. Коmpanichenkо is an active participant in the Kobzar Guild (Kobzarskyi Tsekh) as well as the musical ensembles Chorea Kozacka (Хорея Козацька) and Sarmatica (Сарматика). He was an active participant in the […]

Taras Chubay (Тарас Григорович Чубай) is Ukrainian rock musician, poet, singer, composer, and leader of the seminal Ukrainian rock band Plach Yeremii (Плач Єремії). Through his poetic sensibilities and popular music, Chubay played a major role in the development of post-Soviet Ukrainian art. Chubay was born in 1970 in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. His […]

Mad Heads XL (previously known as Mad Heads) is a Ukrainian rockabilly and ska group from Kyiv. The band has reached near-legendary status after four studio albums, constant touring, and frequent television appearances. Mad Heads is known internationally, as well, as the most prominent rockabilly band hailing from Eastern Europe. Mad Heads’ debut album, Psycholula, […]

Taras Petrynenko (Тарас Гаринальдович Петриненко) is a Ukrainian musician, singer, composer, and poet. He is known as the author of the song “Ukraine” (“Україна”), which has become a de facto anthem of the country. Some of his other well-known songs are “Song About a Song” (“Пісня про пісню”), “Lord, Have Mercy On Us” (“Господи, помилуй […]

ManSound (МенСаунд) is a Ukrainian vocal sextet from Kyiv. They have taken part in numerous jazz festivals around the world, including the prestigious Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in the United States. In 2001 they were named “Best Vocal Group” by the All-American Entertainment Awards and won first prize at Vokal Total’s international a cappella competition. […]

Sofia Rotaru (Софiя Ротару) is an enormously popular and influential Soviet, Ukrainian, and Romanian/Moldovan singer. Her career has lasted almost 50 years and is still going, and she has not only won most of the major music awards and lifetime achievement awards, but she is also a People’s Artist of both Ukraine and Moldova and a […]

Rosava (Росава; real name Olena Yanchuk, Олена Янчук) is a contemporary Ukrainian folk, electronica, and pop singer. She has been on the scene since 2001, with varying degrees of popularity, and has recently had something of a resurgence, appearing in the top ten of Ukraine’s hit parades. Rosava grew up near Kyiv in a musical family. Her father […]

Zlata Ognevich (Злата Огнєвіч; real name Inna Leonidivna Bordyug, Інна Леонідівна Бордюг) is a Ukrainian pop singer and political activist. She sings mainly in Ukrainian, though sometimes also in Russian and English. Ognevich was born in Murmansk, Russia, to Serbian and Italian parents, but they moved to Sudak, a city in Crimea, when she was […]